


We All Still Die

by deepestfathoms



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, Blood and Gore, Bonding In Life Or Death Situations, Death, Dehydration, Dogs, F/F, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Found Family, Good Cousin Anne Boleyn, Henry is a creep, Hurt/Comfort, Malnutrition, Mom Friend Catherine of Aragon, Mom Friend Jane Seymour, Near Death Experiences, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Rape/Non-con, Pregnancy, Serious Injuries, Starvation, Survival, Trauma, Violence, Walkers Are Friends, at least half of them are gonna die, sometimes the gang just covers themselves in walker guts, sorry if your favorite character gets killed lol, these poor girls, they go through hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25831462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepestfathoms/pseuds/deepestfathoms
Summary: Nobody ever said the zombie apocalypse was going to be easy. Hell, nobody ever said it was actually going to be a real thing, but then the outbreak went viral and suddenly people are being eaten alive on their neighborhood streets. One day everything was normal, and then the world everyone knew was flipped over completely on the next. Nobody said it was going to be easy, but with her group by her side, Aragon thinks she may be able to survive.But when a pregnancy, a man trying to hunt down her girlfriend, and an immune child enters the situation, Aragon begins to wonder if it really is kill or be killed after all.OR: The Walking Dead AU
Relationships: Anne Boleyn & Anne of Cleves, Anne Boleyn & Maggie (Six), Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr, Catherine of Aragon & Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount, Catherine of Aragon/Jane Seymour, Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount/Anne of Cleves, Jane Seymour & Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount, Katherine Howard & Jane Seymour
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	1. Fresh

Aragon isn’t really awake yet. She never is until at least her second cup of coffee, and she hasn’t even had one. She doesn’t have that luxury anymore, really. 

She’s having a hard time getting her eyes to focus in the prickling grey-orange sunlight bleeding down from the setting sun, but it certainly looks like there’s a man near that tree up ahead, crouched down on all fours, gnawing at a leg.

A human leg. Definitely. It’s still wearing a sneaker. And a sock.

The man gnawing on the human leg suddenly stopped chewing, as though some sound had disturbed him. He slowly looked up from his meal. His eyes didn’t blink, and they seemed to be too large for his face. His mouth hung open. Drool and blood trailed down his chin.

She heard about the outbreak in London. Of course, at the time, she hadn't thought it was as serious as the eleven o’clock news made it out to be. They get hysterical about everything. A couple of inches of snow, and it’s THE SNOWPOCALYPSE. She can’t really be blamed for putting their ZOMBIEPOCALYPSE warnings in the same category. Boy who cried wolf, right?

But it seemed the newscasters were at least a little right, because it’s been half a year since the disease went viral and there’s a zombie chowing down on a human leg just a few yards away from her.

Damn, she really missed her coffee machine.

She caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye, and a herd of at least ten more zombies came staggering around the bend in the woods. They were covering ground pretty steadily. Faster than most would have expected.

The zombie with the leg saw them coming. He rose from his crouch, teeth bared, leg in hand. Some of the zombie herd moved towards him (herd? is that the right word? maybe a flock? a decomposition of zombies? an infestation, perhaps? anyway.…) and they start a messy tug of war with the leg, mostly using teeth.

Others look around for different prey. One goes for a squirrel. Some seem to be eyeing the tree Aragon was sheltered in, though she’s covered by enough leaves that she doesn't think they can actually see her.

Still, this is really not good. The herd may not be that big, but they’re closer to her camp than she would be comfortable with. She would have to take them out quietly and carefully without attracting anymore that may be lurking around.

And then, there was a gunshot.

One of the Walkers crumpled to the ground from a bullet in its knees. The others whipped their head around to the tree where the green-clad gun wielder was perched precariously with a pistol in hand.

* * *

“Anne!!” Aragon barked in frustration.

The woman, Anne Boleyn, leapt down from her tree and sliced off the nearest Walker’s head with a sword she had apparently stolen from a museum when the world went to shit. She flashed a smile at Aragon before going for another.

Good grief. Well, at least she could count on Cleves to listen to orders.

“Take that, you stank ass BITCH!!”

Nevermind.

Cleves stabbed her machete deep into the skull of a Walker that was missing its right arm. She yanked it out with a glorious spray of dark red blood, then whipped around to embed the blade into the temple of a second, piercing its brain and killing it once and for all.

Aragon sighed heavily, watching the two idiots slash away at the Walkers. While their method of attack was effective, it was dangerous and very loud. The whole point of the rule “no call outs” was to keep from attracting any other zombies. Same for using guns unless they were absolutely needed. Not that she expected Anne and Cleves to ever understand that when they were paired together. That was exactly why she was basically having to babysit them on this scouting and hunting trip.

With another sigh, Aragon raised her crossbow, aimed, and put a bolt between a nearby Walker’s eyes.

“Bullseye!” Anne cried, throwing her arms up in the air. “Good job! Ten points to Catalina!”

Aragon exasperatedly rolled her eyes. “Will you--” Her breath caught in her throat. “ANNE, BEHIND YOU!!”

Anne whipped around and screamed as a Walker lunged for her, hands grabbing, eyes rolling, teeth snapping, ready to take a bite out of its prey--

\--but then something smashed into the back of its knees and it tumbled to the ground. Much stronger jaws clamped around its head and ripped off a large, dripping chunk. Parts of the brain came with it.

“Eyy!” Cleves cheered. “Good boy, Pixie!” She rubbed the top of the brown and white pit bull’s head. “Good boy! Such a good boy!” She shot a smirk at Anne. “Once again, Pixie saves your ass.”

“Oh, pssh,” Anne said dismissively. “I knew it was there. I was letting him take it down for me! To motivate him!”

“Uh huh,” Cleves nodded and then laughed.

Aragon climbed down from her tree and approached the two. They both were already prepared for the lecture she had sitting on her tongue.

“We go for the head, Anne,” Aragon said. “You know that.”

“I do.” Anne nodded. “I’m just a shit shot.” She gave her gun to Aragon, who confiscated it with a sigh. “But hey! Look! We got them all, and with no bites!”

“I know,” Aragon said. “There was a lot this time. The most I’ve seen in awhile.”

“I’m sure it’s okay,” Cleves said. “We can handle them.”

Aragon looked at her, then nodded. She scanned the area quickly.

“We should be heading back,” She said. “Anne, you still have the rabbits, right?”

Anne held up the five hares she had tied to her belt. “Yup.”

“Good. Let’s get away before anymore _muertos_ show up.”

“ _Muertos_ ,” Anne echoed as Aragon led them back to the camp. “Is that really what we’re calling them?”

“Or Walkers,” Aragon said. “That’s what most people call them.”

“Is that ‘dead’ in Spanish?” Anne said. “ _Muertos_?”

“It is.”

“What’s it in French?” Cleves asked.

“ _Morte_.” Anne answered. “What about German?”

“ _Tot_.”

Anne laughed loudly. “We are definitely not calling man-eating zombies ‘tots’!”

“You asked!”

It wasn’t long before their camp rose up from the thicket. The ski lodge was a safe haven up on the hill, an island cloud of heaven above a world turned to hell. It’s been their base for three months now, when the group first reconciled, and Aragon was hoping to keep it that way.

Firelight could be seen glowing from the cracks between the boards put up against the windows. The planks were a necessity, as they had all seen Walkers easily smash through glass. Whether wood would hold against the strength of the undead was unknown as of right now, not that anyone was eager to find out.

A young woman was up on the abandoned ski lift when they arrived, but instead of keeping watch with her sniper rifle, she had her head buried in her journal, writing away.

“Cathy, what have I told you about writing while on watch?” Aragon said.

“It’s...an efficient use of my time?” Cathy guessed with a mischievous grin.

“It distracts you,” Aragon corrected. “And writing in the dark no less.”

Cathy squinted up at the sky. “But the sun is just starting to set!”

“Ah, ah,” Aragon tutted. “Come on, now. Dinner is going to be made soon. You can take a break for now--although you’ve technically already had one.”

Cathy and Anne giggled.

Aragon walked into the ski lodge, the bell on the front door signaling their arrival. The smell of roasting meat wafted throughout the building, meaning Maria had already started cooking. A soft tune from a record player set a sort of ease upon the base.

“They’re back!” Kitty squealed, leaping up from the couch. She ran over and hugged each of them, then gave Pixie a vigorous petting. “No bites?”

“No bites.” Anne said.

Kitty nodded in approval, then went back to petting Pixie.

“How was it out there?” A sweet voice like an angel’s asked.

Aragon looked forward and couldn’t help but smile when she saw the woman walking over to them. Jane always managed to make her heart flutter and her knees feel weak, no matter if it was the first or hundredth time she saw her that day.

“Fine,” Aragon said. “We ran into some _muertos_ , but nothing we couldn’t handle.” She decided to keep out Anne’s shitty shooting and the loudness of their process of killing the Walker. She kissed Jane, then leaned down to kiss her stomach as well, eliciting a giggle from her girlfriend. “And how are you both?”

“We’re splendid,” Jane said, gently rubbing her belly. She was currently four months into her pregnancy and if Aragon wasn’t worrying about the Walkers, then she was worrying about that. Jane found it incredibly endearing.

“That’s good,” Aragon smiled. “I’m glad Jane Jr. isn’t causing her Mama any trouble.”

Jane laughed loudly. “Jane Jr.? Really?”

“Yes! Named after the greatest woman on earth!” Aragon proclaimed.

“I didn’t realize I was a mirror,” Jane mused, making Aragon’s ears flame red.

“GOD, you two are SO GAY.” Anne yelled loudly before kissing Cathy passionately.

Aragon rolled her eyes in amusement. Jane laughed again, then sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace. Aragon sat next to her, carefully rubbing her stomach.

“It’s not going to jump out and bite you.” Jane teased. She took Aragon by the wrist and moved her hand to rub the bump more firmly. “They won’t feel you if you do it so softly.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” Aragon said.

“You won’t, silly.” Jane nudged her. “Oh, and by the way, we are not naming them Jane Jr.”

“What?” Aragon gasped in horror, making Jane laugh again. “Jane Jr. is a perfect name!”

“But _I’m_ Jane.” Jane said. “Besides, what if it’s a boy?”

“Then we name him _Ezekiel_ or something.” Aragon replied breezily.

“Absolutely not.”

They both laughed. Such an action was sometimes hard to do in the middle of an extinction of the human race, so Aragon always cherished these little moments they were able to have.

“Dinner!” Maria called.

“Coming!” Aragon called back. “Here, let me help you up--”

But Jane was already on her feet. She smiled at Aragon fondly. “You gentlewoman.” She said. “But I’m not helpless.”

“Just taking precautions!”

They walked over to the dinner tables, where everyone was already seated. Anne was retelling her amazing victories in the forest to Cathy, Maggie, and Kitty, while Maria was passing out bowls of stew and Cleves was refilling Pixie’s food and water dishes. Aragon and Jane sat down.

“It smells amazing, Maria,” Jane said.

Maria smiled. “Thank you! I try my best with limited supplies. Those hares will make an amazing breakfast tomorrow, by the way.”

They all began to eat, savoring the meal, as they did with all of the ones Maria cooked. Food was getting harder and harder to come by nowadays, so they all made sure to be grateful with whatever they got to eat.

Cathy was the first to finish and went out to the balcony to scout the forest below for a moment. When she came back, her features were firm and forced, but her stride was fast, like she was anxious to get away from something.

“There’s a Walker out front,” She said, and that was enough to send everyone into a panic.

“What?” Kitty squeaked, cowering in fear.

“How many?” Aragon asked.

“One, that I could see,” Cathy answered. “But it’s pretty dark out there.”

“I’ll go check it out,” Anne said, removing her sword from its sheath on her back.

“I’ll go, too,” Cleves said, then whistled for Pixie to follow her.

“Be careful!” Aragon called after them.

Jane went around to Kitty and hugged her. Aragon noticed that the poor girl was shaking- she always had a more intense fear of Walkers and Aragon wasn’t sure why. She just assumed it was from Kitty’s young age. Being eleven in the zombie apocalypse couldn’t possibly be easy.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Jane murmured sweetly. She pulled Kitty into her lap and began to rock her soothingly. “Cleves and your big cousin are going to take care of it, okay?”

“B-but what if they--”

“Shh,” Jane kissed Kitty’s forehead. “They’ll be just fine. Anne is as tough as nails, you know that? She would never leave you alone, I promise.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Aragon noticed Maggie shifting anxiously. She looked as worried for her best friend as Kitty was. Aragon walked over and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

“O-okay,” Kitty whispered, then nodded. “Y-you’re right. Nothing is wrong. Everything is okay.”

And then Cleves and Anne burst through the front doors, eyes wide, faces pale, and a limp child clutched in Cleves’s arms.

“Jane!” Anne cried, “Get your medical supplies!!”


	2. Bloat

In an instant, the powered down hockey table on one side of the ski lodge was cleared and the child was placed upon the top of it. Jane bustled over, moving a bit too fast than Aragon would like, and began barking orders, already rolling her long sleeves up. A flurry of motion stormed around her.

“What happened?” Aragon demanded.

“W-were you bit?” Kitty stammered.

“Where did she come from?” Maggie asked.

“Who is she?” Maria joined in on the questioning.

“Everyone be quiet!” Jane roared, making them all jump. “Cathy, get some water!”

Cathy nodded and scurried off to the well outside the ski lodge. Jane turned her head back to the patient, her jaw set firmly. Instead of bothering to try and remove the stained hospital gown the girl was wearing, she just took a pair of scissors and cut down the middle. When the fabric was parted, a small gash on the girl’s forearm was revealed, the edges inflamed and crusted with infection.

Candles lit up around the lodge, thanks to Maria dutifully lighting them. Aragon handed Jane a bottle of clear liquid labeled only by a crude sketch of a cross on it and then another bottle that smelled faintly of alcohol when opened. Jane flushed out every inch of the wound on the girl’s arm with the clear liquid, then drenched the whole length with the second liquid. The reddish-brown fluid streamed down the girl’s bare chest and abdomen, along with the bubbling of the blood that got washed out by whatever was in the first bottle. The young stranger whimpered in her half-daze.

“Shh, shh, little one,” Jane murmured softly, but didn’t touch. She kept her hands in the air like a surgeon and, indeed, Aragon saw that she was holding a needle and stitching. “Anna,” She eyed the woman hovering nearby, “Come here, will you please?”

“What can I do?” Cleves asked, stepping over.

“Grab a candle and angle the glow on her belly. I need more light.”

Cleves nodded and then retrieved a candle, doing as he was told.

“Cathy, hold her wound shut for me. And Catalina, keep the child calm. Distract her if she starts to get worked up.”

The close candle was necessary, but the light of the other fires was growing, too, flickering helpful warm yellows and oranges over the girl’s pale face and down her exposed body as Aragon, Cleves, and Cathy situated themselves in a comfortable position. Unlike Jane, this was clearly a first time for all three of them.

Before the outbreak, Jane had been a veterinarian at the animal hospital in her city. One of the best, too. She may not have been a human doctor, but she knew how to sew wounds and treat infections, and she was trained to not be bitten by things, so she was a very valuable asset to the group.

Jane bent over the child and started the stitches. The girl gasped and jerked out of her daze, looking to the source of the pain and finding a woman she didn’t recognize at all.

“It’s okay, sweetie, it’s okay,” Aragon said softly. Jane is hovering over the girl, waiting, letting her get her bearings and settle. “We’re not going to hurt you. You’re getting stitches.”

The girl looked up at Aragon, and Aragon saw that her eyes were a startling moon silver color. They were so pale that she may have mistaken them for the glazed blankness of Walker eyes at a distance.

Then, the eyes fluttered shut. Aragon could see a light sheen of sweat developing along her nose, cheeks, and forehead. 

“Child, stay awake.” Jane ordered, noticing somehow, even though she was supposed to be stitching. She swiped away an oily lock of the girl’s sun-bleached blonde hair that was sprawling into her work zone.

“She’s just resting.” Aragon said, a little defensive, but when she earned a hard look from Jane, she opted to obey the professional and lightly shook the girl’s good shoulder. The girl shuddered too much, jarring Jane’s meticulous work and making the woman lean back to mutter obscenities, something Aragon thought she would never hear.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” The girl sobbed, sensing the frustration around her. “Don’t hurt me... Please don’t hurt me… I’m sorry…!”

At the “don’t hurt me”, Aragon and Cleves exchanged worried looks. 

“Nobody is going to hurt you, sweetheart,” Aragon said. “You’re safe.”

“D-don’t send me back, please…” The girl babbled on, panting as if she were stricken with a burning fever. “Please, please, please… C-can’t go back…”

“Calm her, Catalina.” Jane ordered, readying the needle again.

“You are not in trouble, dear,” Aragon said, softening her voice to a more velvety tone. She lifted a hand and stroked strands of sweaty blonde hair out of the girl’s face. “Just stay calm. Don’t move.”

The girl’s strange, wide eyes looked up at Aragon again, then she nodded ever so slightly. Her head flopped over and she glanced around blearily before grunting in pain.

“Where did you find her?” Cathy asked Cleves, glancing up from the puckering wound she was squeezing shut.

“Down in the forest,” Cleves answered. “Anne and I killed that one Walker you saw and then she came staggering out of the trees. I have no idea where she came from.”

“N-no bites?” Kitty stuttered, stepping over. She was very pale and looked like she was going to faint.

“No bites.” Cleves confirmed.

“Strange that she was wearing a hospital gown,” Maria observed, sidling over to watch the wound treatment. “How far is the nearest hospital?”

“We’re out in the middle of fucking sticks,” Maggie said. “So probably pretty far.”

“Swear.” Kitty said softly.

“Sorry.”

“There’s no way a kid this young could survive out there on her own,” Anne said. “Look at her. She’s barely older than Kitty.”

Aragon gazed down at the child, and could confirm that she had to only be twelve or thirteen.

“She has to have a group around here.” Anne went on.

“What if they think we kidnapped her?” Maggie worried. 

“Maybe they won’t,” Aragon said. “I mean, we are sewing up her wound.”

“Yeah, but still.” Anne said. “You know how people are nowadays.”

Suddenly, the girl gasped as Jane pulled the thread through. She let out a sob, her eyes screwing shut as tears spilled free.

“Only a little more to go. Keep her awake.” Jane directed to Aragon.

“You’re okay, darling.” Aragon whispered to the weeping child. “It’s almost over.”

For a while it was just silence broken by the occasional noises- the fire cracking, one of the group member’s murmuring, the wind blowing, the child’s whimpers and rapid pants. If the girl were to squirm, Aragon would always stroke her hair and shush her gently.

Finally, Jane clipped off the end of the stitches. They were expert-level precise.

Before anyone can say anything, however, the woman is moving again. After cleaning her hands of the child’s blood in a basin, she retrieved a wet rag and began washing off her patient’s arm, then wrapping it with some torn fabric.

“There,” Jane finally said. “The hard part is over.” 

In an instant, she was moving again, feeling the girl’s rib cage and stomach, pursing her lips in deep thought as she did so. She checked her legs and neck and other arm, and Aragon saw smaller cuts, bruises, and whited out scars in jagged patterns splattered across areas of her grimy pale skin.

“She’s starving and malnourished,” Jane rattled off, not looking up from where she was kneading the sinkholes in the girl’s belly. “Dehydrated, too. She’s also suffering from exposure. She must have been outside for awhile.” She examined the girl’s feet, which were so cut up and blistered that simply standing on them must have been excruciating. “She’s got some cuts and bruises from being out in the woods, but nothing as bad as her arm. She must have gotten caught on something or maybe attacked.” She pried open one of the girl’s eyes, earning a weak whine of protest. “Exhausted, sleep deprived, over exerted… She’s going to need some rest and a meal, or at least some water, as soon as possible.”

Aragon nodded. “So she’s going to be okay?” She asked.

“Yes, I believe so,” Jane answered with a small smile. She waved Anne to come pick the girl up. “She can sleep on the couch, that way she can be comfortable and close b--” Suddenly, she gasped in horror. Anne looked down and then cussed loudly, unceremoniously dropping the child back onto the air hockey table and eliciting a sharp yelp of pain. Aragon was about to demand what the hell they were doing when she noticed it.

The bite on the back of the girl’s shoulder.

“Oh fuck!” Anne yelled, bringing her hands to her head. 

“Sh-she’s bit!” Kitty screeched, looking ill and horrified at the same time.

“You said there were no bites!” Maggie cried.

“We didn’t see it!” Cleves reprimanded.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck,” Anne was muttering, pacing back and forth. “I can’t kill a kid!”

“I’ll do it.” Jane said and pulled out her revolver, aiming for the girl’s head. All the warmth and care that was in her just a few seconds ago was now gone, replaced with stony coldness.

“Jane, no!” Aragon grabbed Jane’s wrist and pointed the gun away. “You can’t do this! She’s just a kid!”

“She’s _bit_!” Jane said, looking at Aragon is disbelief. “I just wasted some of our medicine and a needle and thread on a girl who’s just going to turn.”

“Jane, you can’t kill a child,” Cleves said.

“Yes she can!” Maggie said. “She’s not a child anymore, Anna. She’s a monster. And you know what those things do.”

Kitty whimpered and began to cry. Anne rushed over to her and pulled her baby cousin into her arms.

“Maybe it’s not a Walker bite?” Cathy suggested, although there was doubt in her voice. “It looks a little old. Maybe it was just an animal.”

“I know what animal bites look like,” Jane said, shooting a glare at Cathy. “We need to protect our group, and the best way to do that is by getting rid of the threat.” She raised her gun again, but Aragon shoved her arm back down.

“We’re not killing her.” Aragon growled.

“Are you fucking serious?” Maggie gaped.

“We’ll chain her up,” Aragon went on, ignoring Maggie’s protest. “And we’ll gag her. If the fever sets in, then we can put her down, but until then, nobody touches her.”

There were scattered agreements and disagreements, but nobody actually tried to oppose the plan. Cleves went to grab the chains, while Aragon walked into the main office to retrieve the gag. Jane stormed in after her.

“What’s going on with you?” Jane snapped. “Why are you letting her stay? Why didn’t you let me shoot her?”

“She’s a child.” Aragon said. 

“She’s _bit_. Just like I said before.” Jane clarified. “You know what we do with people who are bit. _We put them down._ That’s always been our rule!”

“She’s just a kid.” Aragon said, and there was a growl in her voice. She narrowed her eyes at Jane. “What’s gotten into you? Do you just want to blow this girl’s brains out or something?”

“What’s gotten into ME?” Jane scoffed. “You were out there loving all over that kid like she was your first born child or something! What was that all about? Using pet names and stroking her hair—you don’t even know her name!” 

“Jealous?”

Jane clenched her jaw and growled. “She’s a _stranger_.”

“She’s barely older than Kat!” Aragon reprimanded. “She’s wearing a hospital gown, Jane. No shoes, no bra, no underwear, no weapons. What possible threat could she bear to us?”

“She’s going to turn and kill us all! We’re all going to die because you want to keep some stray in our home!” Jane yelled.

“We’re already dead, Jane.” Aragon hissed lowly. “We’re all time bombs just waiting to be bit and infected, so what makes you any different? You’re as dangerous to us as I am and as that girl is and as everyone is! We’re all monsters. And it’s only a matter of time before the muzzle comes off.”

A moment of silence descended upon the two.

“What about our baby?” Jane asked, setting her hands on her pregnant belly.

Aragon looked at her, picked up the refined iron gag from inside a drawer, and said, “It’s not mine.”


End file.
